January Snow

We got snow this week.

The forecast said we wouldn't, but at 3 am our power went out, and when I got up in the morning, there was enough snow to decide to stay home rather than risking the roads, especially with a winter weather advisory in effect all day.



With the power out, once it was light, the best thing to do seemed to be taking the dogs out for a walk. We often walk in the forest just across the road from us, owned by a timber company, so it seemed like a good destination.



Koira is 12, but feeling young and spunky most of the time. (You can see her wearing a Marco Polo radio tracker in these photos, because she went missing for 5 days over the summer and we're not taking chances.)



Neither of the girls likes the snow much in and of itself, but they are always up for a hike as long as they don't get too cold.



They both really enjoyed catching snowballs (I ran out of cookies). It does chill them a bit, but we were close to home.



We were out for about an hour, and the girls were ready to be inside and warm next to the fire by the time we were done. It also started snowing pretty heavy right as we got home, so it was pretty good timing.



With the sun peaking through the clouds, and a mist over everything, the lighting was amazing.

Hiking with Friends

We went for a hike with one of our flyball teammates and her dog Angus, followed by a walk on the beach.

Angus is a border collie/husky mix who we've been doing flyball with for a couple years. My dogs are fans of him, and they had a great time running wild, both on the hike and on the beach.

Of course, wrangling all three dogs for a photo wasn't the easiest thing, since they pretty much just wanted to go explore and find critters.

Angus was much help with taking photos.

Kinsol Trestle Hike- The Non-Trestle Part

The Kinsol Trestle hike we went on this past weekend is gorgeous, and gives some great views of a very impressive wooden trestle. But it also has some short but beautiful trails through the forest near the trestle as well.

Dogs on a log

This is the little trail that wound down to the base of the trestle and the gorgeous little stream down below.

I had a more noble looking photo, but the silly grin fits him

I would say, if you make it out for this hike, it would be a shame to not hike down to the river while you are there. I am sure on hot days the river is likely busy, but there are quite a few semi-accessible spots (trails are steep to get to the river itself, so not suitable if you aren't able to do a bit of a scramble).

Posing in a sunbeam

The river itself is beautiful. Very Pacific-northwest with the deep greens and variety of mosses and ferns.

The river pool

The dogs enjoyed an opportunity to cool off and play around on shore for a bit before we headed back to the car.

Wading pool

Hiking the Kinsol Trestle, Vancouver Island, BC

Kinsol Trestle

This past weekend involved a trip up to Vancouver Island, British Columbia for a flyball tournament. My original plan involved going up a few days early and staying an extra day or two, and spending that time hiking on the island.

Unfortunately, that didn't end up working out, and I went up on Friday, arriving late in the evening, and took the last ferry home on Sunday (arriving home a little after 4 am on Monday morning).

Trail head signpost 

With that, we did manage to get in one hike on Saturday afternoon after racing was done for the day. Just a 15 or so minute drive from the flyball venue is a rather famous hike to the Kinsol Trestle, which is a very old wooden railroad trestle bridge, which has been converted to a walking trail. The curve of the bridge, as well as the size, makes it unique.

On the bridge. 

The hike is only about 1 km from the parking lot to the bridge, and it is relatively flat, and a very smooth, wide path. The hike is very easy, though you can add length by hiking further along the trail past the trestle or by doing what we did, which is take the steep, winding path below the trestle down to the river.

Part way to the river

The bridge railings were offset somewhat from the actual surface of the bridge, which made it too dangerous to try to get the dogs anywhere near the railing. Large dogs would be less of a concern, but the gap was certainly large enough that Ptera could fall through. The on the bridge section of this was absolutely leashes required.

Love the curve of the trestle

Once we were on the path headed under the bridge to the river, there were fewer people. The path winds back and forth through the forest on either side of the bridge, going under the bridge in two different places with picnic tables set up for a lunch.

If you zoom in on this photo, you can see the cobwebs on Ptera's head

I wanted to try to get some photos of Ptera with the bridge that showed the wooden construction as well as the size and scale of the bridge. Ptera is only 10 lbs, so you can get an idea of how massive this bridge is.

With the cement base of the trestle

If you make it to this hike, I do recommend taking the path down to the river if you can, as it is gorgeous, and offers great opportunities for photos.

Blue sky peaking through

Obviously the trestle is not for climbing on, and signs will remind you not to climb on the trestle at regular intervals. Ptera was never far above the ground and was always placed carefully on her perch until she felt solid.

Really, really tall

In the end, this ended up being a great hike. If I only did one for the weekend, this was a good choice.

At the river

Flyball and Hiking

We've been staying busy in the hot weather with flyball and plenty of hiking.

It was hot, and this hike had more than enough elevation gain to give a decent workout even in cooler weather

A friend of mine who moved out of state was back to visit for a few weeks, and we managed to get a large group of our high school friends together for breakfast and a hike last weekend. I had flyball practice later that day, so brought Flight and Ptera along for the hike.

Some of my friends expressed an opinion that the tiny dog can't really be counted as a real dog. And there was even some mention of me having to carry her on our hike, which was supposed to be 3.8 miles long.

Two wrong turns down dead ends later, our hike lasted 5.1 miles. And the Tiny Dog was still going strong, despite playing fetch a good half of the hike, and plenty of leaping as well.

I'm not sure any minds were changed in terms of owning a small dog, but I don't think they will be doubting this particular small dog's abilities in the future.

Ptera went on to be a total rock star at flyball practice that evening as well.

Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC

Last week, I went on a quick trip to Canada with Ptera. By quick, I mean we were north of the border for under 11 hours. 

Despite the super fast trip, we did make a trip to Stanley park in the morning and walked around a bit.

I've never made it to Vancouver before, but Stanley Park was gorgeous. The trails were really nice for leashed walks, though there were some bike tours despite it being a week day.

Koira and Flight stayed at home during this trip, so it was just me and Ptera, along with my friend and her dog Moonshine.

Introducing: Flight

As some may have noticed over the last few posts, there is a new face showing up here. A scruffy face.

I think it is time to introduce him. This is Flight.

Flight is just over a year old, and has spent just about a month here with us.

He looks huge next to Ptera, but really he is about 18 lbs or so. He has a wire coat with no undercoat, just the single layer.

Flight and Ptera get along great. Ptera loves yanking on his ruff, and he doesn't seem to mind too much. They wrestle and play every day.

Flight has come a good ways since coming home. He is still very wary of the cat (in his last home, he was harassed by a grumpy, territorial cat for a few months, his entire stay with them, which seems to have left him a little traumatized). But he appears to be cat safe, just scared.

He is still learning how to pose. He came with a fear of cameras and would duck for cover whenever he saw the camera come out or make noise. He is getting over that with the use of many cookies and fun walks and hikes.

Learning has started for flyball, though it is difficult as my club is not doing classes right now, so I haven't had anyone to help with him regularly. He does a beautiful wall turn on a wall board, and will do a dead ball retrieve and recall over jumps. But he is noise sensitive with the thrusters triggering.

So far, he has traveled to Canada once, to the beach twice, and to two hikes farther away than we can walk to. Mostly we've been working on basic manners and reminding him that house training still applies in my house.

So, here he is. Flight.

Nulo Freeze-Dried Raw #chewyinfluencers

Yesterday, I met up with my friend Heidi for a fun day at the coast. I brought along Ptera and Flight, and she brought along Pallo. The dogs all ended up getting along great after a few minor grumbles when they first met in the car. Pallo is 9 now, and is doing fantastic. I don't think I would believe how old he is if I didn't know it as undeniable fact.

My pro poser 

We did hit the beach first, then lunch, then we took a hike with the dogs, with the goal of getting them another blow out before heading home, and grabbing some pictures on some of my favorite hiking trails ever.

I brought along Nulo Duck Recipe freeze dried dog food to use as treats. Flight is still learning his recall (this was only his third totally off leash hike with no drag line, if you count the beach that same morning as off leash hike #2). Pallo and Ptera have great recalls, but treats keep their recalls snappy and are used to pay them for posing for photos!

The Nulo was sent to us to review, and while it is a food that is a complete diet in and of itself, we just had a smallish bag, so I thought the best way to use it was for treats. I do love that I can feed as many "treats" as I want without worrying that the dogs will get sick from overly rich treats. I can just lower the amount of their regular food later if they eat a ton of the Nulo.

Hiking and photos require accessories. Poop bags and treats!

The Nulo comes in little nuggets, which worked great as treats, and would make scooping out a cup or two for meals super easy as well. They crush easily enough if you deliberately crush them, but weren't too bad when I just wanted to hold some in my hand for handy recall treats.

Mr. Pallo

Pallo thought the Nulo was fantastic, and tried to take my fingers with the treats pretty much every time. Ptera loved them too, but was more polite about it.

Flight drank the salt water at the beach (obviously he was discouraged, but he still drank more than he should have) and ended up with a queasy stomach. He ended up taking his treats and then burying them for "later" in the forest along our path. (He ended up not feeling great that evening and part of the night, but I have no doubt next time we go to the beach he will be just as happy to drink all the water in sight, salt water or not.)

Flight

Overall, the Nulo was a big hit. I would happily get it again to use as treats, and the ingredients are fantastic. If I were to switch to a dehydrated raw food in the future, Nulo would be on my list to look at for sure.


Also, for anyone wondering- Koira is now doing fantastic. As my mom refers to it, she is "fat and sassy" now. The canned food she is on made her gain some weight initially, though she is now maintaining, and she is acting playful and happy. The tooth extraction sites are pretty much healed at this point.

Hike at Mike Miller

Last weekend, I spent Sunday at the coast for my birthday. One of my favorite things to do while there is hike the trails at a tiny little local park called Mike Miller. The trails wind through old growth spruce forests that just embody Oregon to me.

The littles, with a creeper in the background

I've done this hike enough to know which are my favorite places to stop and take photos, though the lighting and time of day make a difference as well.

Dash

Even though this is a short little trail, about a mile loop, I absolutely love stopping and hiking here. The loop may be short, but there is a lot of up and down hill, which makes it feel more like a real hike.

Flynn

I am sure it won't be long before I head back to Mike Miller again.

Ptera, who wasn't cooperating